How to Get Influencers to Post After You Send a Free Product

Countless brands have been burned by the influencer marketing game of sending free gifts to influencers and not getting a shout-out from them.

It's a waste of time, resources, and effort.

In this guide, you'll learn tips to get influencers to post about your brand when you send them a free product.

I won't ask you to guilt-trip or manipulate influencers into posting. Those underhanded tactics rarely work and can damage relationships. Instead, you'll learn strategies to genuinely motivate creators and foster win-win partnerships.

Keep them in the loop

Sending a follow-up email to influencers after shipping them your products is all about proactive communication. It helps increase the likelihood that they'll actually post about and promote your products.

It builds anticipation and excitement. Reminding them that the products are coming creates curiosity about experiencing your products.

Hi [influencer name]

Your [brand name] order has been shipped and is on its way! Here's the tracking number for your reference: [Tracking #]

I'm excited for you to try out our products and can't wait to hear what you think. I'd love your honest thoughts and feedback - once you've had a chance to experience them, of course 😁

Cheers, [Your Name]

This email can also prompt them to plan content. Influencers are constantly looking for new content ideas. This email plants the seed for them to start thinking about how they'll showcase your products.

Send them their unique code

Share the unique coupon code that you have created for them in the next email. It gives them extra incentive to promote your product to their audience.

Here's an email template you can use:

Hey [Influencer name],

I've set up a discount code for you and your audience. It's — [Code]. Share this code to give your followers 15% off their [brand name] orders.

This discount code gives you a 20% commission on every purchase. Share it with your audience when you post about our brand on your social media.

Here's the code again: [Code]

Cheers, [Your name]

You can send this 1-2 days after your first email or if your product takes a bit longer (5-7 days to ship) then you can send it 1-2 days before your product is supposed to arrive at their doorstep.

Email after the product is delivered

Even if influencers initially seem excited about your product, they can easily get sidetracked or forget about posting once the package arrives. Life gets busy, and your product might get lost in the shuffle. Sending a follow-up email 2-3 days after delivery is a friendly reminder.

This email template keeps it simple, asking for their honest feedback or thoughts on the product without being too pushy:

Hi [Influencer Name],I wanted to confirm that you've received the [Brand Name] products we sent. I'd love to hear your initial thoughts and feedback once you've tried them out.

Let me know if you need any other information or support from me as you're trying out the products. I'm happy to answer any other questions.

Cheers, [Your Name]

This low-pressure approach allows the influencer to share their genuine experience without feeling obligated to post something right away. But also reminds them about your partnership in a friendly, non-demanding way.

Explicitly ask for a post

Wait around 1-2 weeks after sending the initial follow-up email & send an email being more direct in requesting they share about your brand on their social media.

This allows ample time for the influencer to experience your product, form genuine opinions about it, and start thinking about how they'd like to promote it.

Here's a template you can use:

Hi [Influencer Name],

Now that you've had a couple of weeks to try out the [Brand Name] products I sent over, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

I hope you had a positive experience. If you feel good about promoting our brand to your audience, do share an authentic post/story/video highlighting [Brand] on your channels 😁

Oh, and, you can use your unique code [CODE] to give your followers 15% off while earning a 20% commission on any purchase done using your code.

Thanks again for your time and for considering this!

Best, [Your Name]

Nudge to post about being an ambassador

If you're running an ambassador program, you can nudge your influencers to announce your partnership. This serves as a great prompt for fresh content for them, while also officially kicking off their role as a brand ambassador.

This email prompting them to make an "announcement" post should do a few important things:

1. Gets them officially sharing/promoting your brand for the first time as an ambassador
2. Uses exclusivity (#ambassadorhashtag) to make them feel part of an inner circle
3. References past successful ambassadors to inspire FOMO
4. Highlights the financial incentive of making commissions on tracked sales

Here's a template you can use:

Subject: Welcome to the [brand] ambassador family 🥳

Hi [Influencer Name],

It's official - you're now part of the [Brand] Ambassador team! We're so excited to have you on board.

Now that you've received the [Product Name] we sent over, we'd love for you to share an announcement post this week using #[BrandAmbassadorHashtag] to let your audience know about this exciting partnership.

Some of our top ambassadors have seen great engagement from posts like:

"Just became an official [Brand] Ambassador! Can't wait to share more about their amazing [Product/Service] with you all. Use my code [XXXXXX] to get 25% off your first order. #[BrandAmbassador]"

Announcing your ambassador status gives your followers a sneak peek at the products you'll be promoting, and lets them know about the special discount they can use through your unique code.

Feel free to put your own creative spin on the announcement - you know your audience best! We're just here to support however we can.

We'll be sending more info about ambassador perks, a welcome kit with branded assets, and other guidelines shortly.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Cheers, [Your Name]

Even before you ship the product

The journey to get influencers to post about your brand starts well before you actually ship products to them. Successful brands focus not on 'pushing' influencers and getting them to post but on the overall experience, and setting the right expectations.

Here are 2 things you should do before you even ship the product to improve the chances of getting a shoutout from the influencer:

Go with an explicit ask upfront

When you want a fruitful, lasting relationship, your first message shouldn’t be a casual, non-committal one.

Below is an email template that shows you're looking for a long-term partnership. Observe how it still doesn't say 'Hey, we're sending this product for free and please post about us.' It's all about the long-term:

Subject line: A hello and proposal from [brand name]

Hello [Influencer name]

I've consistently been impressed with your work on Instagram, especially your insights on [Theme]. Over at [Brand], we're all about [one-line description]. We believe you'd truly appreciate our product because of [benefits].

Currently, we're scouting for 25 creators who resonate with our [mission]. We'd be thrilled to have you onboard as a long-term partner with us. Confident you'll love our product, I've set aside a special package. Can I get your shipping address?

Cheers, [Your name]

This upfront email shows you've thoroughly researched this influencer, understand their niche d have intentionally identified them as a strong fit for your brand values. The explicit invitation and compliments make them feel hand-picked. And by name-dropping the limited 25 creator spots, you build FOMO.

Design a video-worthy unboxing experience

Influencers love creating viral unboxing content - it's engaging, drives excitement, and kickstarts their journey with your products.

Design your packaging to be inherently video-friendly with unique boxes, beautifully printed inserts, add-ons like stickers, etc. This "unboxing experience" primes influencers to naturally film the unboxing process and share it with their audience.

Personalize the experience

Don't treat influencers like just another number. Add personalized touches that make them feel special and appreciated as a partner.

How can you do that? Through handwritten notes, customized product shades/variations picked just for them, packaging designed to their aesthetic, etc. They'll be motivated to authentically rave about your products because of the care and effort put into tailoring the experience for them.

When is it time to move on

If you've sent 3-4 follow-up messages over 1-2 months and received no response, it's likely time to move on. Continuing to message them runs the risk of coming across as spam.

You can do one thing, though — If you're using SARAL or any other CRM, tag them as 'DORMANT.' Send them re-engagement emails automatically.

The key is to casually revive their memories of your products and sweeten the deal by highlighting the audience discount code again. You can send an email like this once a month or bi-monthly to any influencers who haven't posted.

Here's a template you can use:

Hi [Influencer name]

Circling back about the [Brand Name] products we sent you a few months ago. Did you get  a chance to experience them?

If you liked them, we’d love for you to share your experience with your audience. Your honest recommendations mean a lot to them!

Quick reminder, here's the exclusive discount code to share with your followers: [Code].

Posting about [Brand Name] and sharing this codes gives your audience a fantastic deal while supporting a brand you hopefully enjoyed :)

No worries if you didn't quite vibe with the products. We'd appreciate your candid feedback.

Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers, [Your Name]

St a final cut-off point (e.g. 6 months with no post) for these emails. Persisting beyond that risks the relationship becoming strained. When the influencer remains unresponsive or uninterested, it's best to respectfully move on. Don't burn bridges, but redirect your efforts toward influencers who are more engaged and excited about your brand.

Ditch the influencer runaround with SARAL

Working with influencers and getting them to promote your products can take a lot of time and effort. However, SARAL makes it easy by automating the entire follow-up process.

With SARAL, you'll save hours every week and get better results from influencers.

SARAL has a feature called "Activation Campaigns" that reminds influencers and keeps them engaged with your brand. Here's how it works in 3 simple steps:

1— Ship your product to the influencer

When you send your product to the influencer through SARAL, the system tracks where the shipment is and when it gets delivered.

2— Automatic campaign starts

As soon as the system detects that the shipment has been delivered to the influencer, it automatically starts an 'Activation Campaign.'

3— Influencer gets reminders

The influencer starts getting emails. These emails encourage them to try your product and post about it on social media. It makes it much more likely that they'll actually promote your brand.

The best part is that SARAL comes with 4 ready-made ‘Activation Campaigns’. You don't have to do any work to set them up. If you want to edit the content, you can always do that.

See how SARAL can transform your influencer results with hassle-free automation. Start your 7-day free trial today.

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